3D Environment
Artist

About

Preparation

Before any modeling, texturing, or opening Unreal, every project I work on begins with research and a plan of attack. For this piece I focused on getting the scale of the main concept nailed.

I wanted to add a main focus to this piece hence adding the tree, and a bit of a story to it by making the cables run from the incense burners into the pot. What drew me to the original concept was the blend of Sci-Fi and Fantasy and I wanted to play with that theme a little more.

Detailed Lighting

The lighting of this environment was admittedly very tricky. I hadn't anticipated the scale to affect the process as much as it did. Another challenge was rendering with so many emissives.

To make it work, I went back to the basic idea of using lighting to guide the eye where you want it to look. I used it to highlight the vanishing point, and make other eye lines cross the main focal point.

Cables, Cables, Cables

Instead of modeling these I used a simple blue print to run editable splines that ran geometry along them. I decided to do this so when the inevitable need to make changes arose, I wouldn't have to spend more time modeling and switching programs.

This process also ensured scalability would be retained, whether I needed a short cable or long one, this tool helped keep this aspect simple.

Kit

Modularity was key to finishing an environment of this scale in a ten week period. With the exception of the fog, every aspect of this environment are made by me from scratch.

Various programs were used for this workflow - Maya, Zbrush, Marvelous Designer, Substance Designer, Substance Painter, Marmoset Toolbag, and of course Unreal Engine 5.2.

**fog and smoke provided by Easy Fog and Goddess Temple on Unreal Marketplace

Key Assets

The incense burner took the most time to make of all the assets. Drawing inspiration from Buddhist incense towers and battery chargers with multiple outlets, I combined the two to give the concept a bit more of a story element.

This was started in Maya for the main block out and details were sculpted in ZBrush and baked down in Marmoset Toolbag, textured in Substance Painter.